Boeing's New F-15K Strike Eagle

Flight Journal, Aug 2005 by Pace, Steve

ON MARCH 3, 2005, BOEING'S NEWEST fighter airplane, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15K Strike Eagle, made its first flight in St. Louis, Missouri, piloted by Boeing F-IS chief test pilot Joe Felock and chief weapon systems officer Rick Junkin. They put the F-15K through some unprecedented flight-test maneuvers, including an aggressive speed run that easily surpassed Mach 2.0, soaring to an altitude above 50,000 feet, a number of engine shutdowns and restarts-all while breezing through the instrument and avionics checks of its primary backup systems.

The ROKAF selected the F-15K Strike Eagle for its Next Generation Fighter Program in 2002, and under a $3.6 billion contract, Boeing will deliver 40 F-ISKs to the ROKAF through August 2008.

The F-15K is the premier long-range, multirole fighter in the world. It is powered by two afterburning, 29,000-pound-thrust, General Electric FIlO turbofan jet engines. It can perform air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea combat missions in daytime, night-time and in almost any weather. It can carry more than 23,000 pounds of ordnance and reach Mach 2.5. It comes with the latest fighter technologies that include: the APG-63 (V) 1 radar system, helmet-mounted cueing system, infrared search and track, thirdgeneration navigation and targeting systems, and its weapon-control-systems support Joint Direct Attack Munitions, Harpoon Block II, Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response, AIM-9X Sidewinder and the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile.

-Steve Pace